Today's News

Friday, Dec. 28 — Civil Defense Director John Villegas of West Las Vegas placed fallout shelter signs above the entrance to the administration building of the New Mexico State Hospital. Villegas and Sam Sampson, CD director for the City of Las Vegas, along with Tony Velarde of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, in Albuquerque, made a survey of buildings in Greater Las Vegas yesterday. Once a shelter is designated as such by the USCD, it will be stocked with food, water and medical supplies.

The San Miguel County Safe Ride Home service will extend its hours of operation during the holidays. Days of operation will include Dec. 26 through Dec. 31 from 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.. Service will still operate Friday and Saturday nights from 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Services are provided from any liquor establishment to your home in the Las Vegas area. Call 505-429-0336 for a ride.

Friday
Mostly sunny with a high near 29. Wind chill values as low as -1. West wind around 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Friday night, mostly clear, with a low around 11. West wind 5-10 mph becoming northwest after midnight.

Saturday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 36. West wind 5-15 mph becoming south in the morning. Saturday night, partly cloudy with a low around 19.

Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 43. Sunday night, a 10 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26.

State Police will be conducting DWI Saturation Patrols, random driver’s license and registration checkpoints as well as speed enforcement and occupant restraint enforcement projects this month. State police will also be conducting a DWI Checkpoint in San Miguel County from noon to 5 p.m. on Dec. 31.

By Jim Salter
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Fontella Bass, a St. Louis-born soul singer who hit the top of the R&B charts with “Rescue Me” in 1965, has died. She was 72.
Bass died Wednesday night at a St. Louis hospice of complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago, her daughter, Neuka Mitchell, said. Bass had also suffered a series of strokes over the past seven years.

The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A last-gasp effort Thursday to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts got off on the same convulsive, partisan tone that marked congressional attempts to resolve the impasse before lawmakers left Washington to go home for Christmas.

The Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE — The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico collected $8.7 million during the last fiscal year in cases in which money was owed to the federal government or to victims of crimes.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the smallest amount came from a $10 collection in a 2008 fatal crash on the Navajo Nation, while the largest criminal collection came when former Deputy Insurance Superintendent Joe Ruiz fully paid off $102,000 in restitution from his conviction on wire fraud and other charges.

SANTA FE — The top prosecutor in Santa Fe says she’s decided not to charge a special education teacher who dragged a blind student down a hallway.
District Attorney Angela “Spence” Pacheco said Wednesday that although the video of the incident was “distasteful,” there was no evidence that the teacher harmed or intended to harm the uncooperative child.

Christmas is sharing time in Mora. Many people showed the reason for the season, sharing their talents, and their material with others.

Pauline Laumbach’s BPA gave 156 color books to children in grades kindergarten through third. The music department gave a free Christmas concert. The Mora Mountain Mamas sang Christmas carols at the Mora Senior Center.